When do you start your holiday shopping?

Some of my friends think they are getting ahead by starting their shopping in September or October. But me? I start in the summer. I don't buy tons of stuff but I pick up things here and there that I just know my mother would love, or a teacher might appreciate. For the girls it's harder because they still like to make a list. I both love and hate the LIST. I love that they are still enjoying the holidays of their childhood. But I hate that making a list seems, well, spoiled. Even if they KNOW there's no way they are getting everything on that list.

What am I possibly shopping for in July?

Christmas cards! You see giving and receiving holiday cards are big for my family. Truth be told I took about 3 years off from sending cards and the number of received cards was noticably smaller (I'm going with the theory that most people rely on getting MY card to have my address). Why do we love getting Christmas cards?

Because every year we sort through the previous year's cards and use them to cut out gift tags! My mom did this with me and now my girls are enjoying it too. It can be a fun and creative way to reuse uniqe Christmas cards and it means I don't have to go out and buy tags for presents!

Here is a perfect example of a card that would be great to use for a gift tag:

You could cut out around the oval for one tag. You could cut out the MERRY CHRISTMAS and Happy New Year to make a rectangular gift tag. You could even cut out around the snowflake! What I love about this holiday tradition is that you DON'T have to be Martha Stewart to do it! You can be creative and feel crafty and not have your fingers hot-glued together. #winning

Where am I finding Christmas cards in July?

Glad you asked. Through my good friends at Global Influence I learned about Storkie.com and saw they have Christmas cards available right now! Can you imagine crossing THAT off your list already? I know - feels good, doesn't it? Take THAT frienzied December! I've got my cards ordered already!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post and I received compensation for helping to promote the sponsor. All opinions are my own and I really do cut out gift tags from old Christmas cards and of course the more interesting the card the better the tags!